Ice-tongs.



No. 679,183. Patented July 23, l90l.

H. B. McKEE. v

ICE TONGS.

(Application filed Mar. 28, 1901.)

(No mo el.)

WITNESSES: INVENTOR 04 TTORNE Y.

NITE STATES HENRY B. MOKEE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

lCE TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 679,183, dated July 23, 1901.

Application filed March 26 1901. Serial No. 52,965. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. MOKEE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ice-Tongs, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of icetongs which are composed of a single carrying-handle, a pair of jaws pivotally connected to said handle, and means on said handle, adapted to be operated by the hand used in carrying the device, to either open or close the jaws.

The invention consists in a novel construction of ice-tongs which are very convenient and efficient in their use for grasping and carrying blocks of ice or other articles, as hereinafter described, and set forth in the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ice-tongs embodying my invention and showing the jaws in their normal or open position. Fig. 2 is partly a longitudinal section and partly a side view of the same, the jaws being shown in closed position and broken off; and Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections on lines X X and Y Y, respectively, in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, A denotes the handle by which the device is carried and which may be of any suitable shape. The handle is formed at its ends with a pair of parallel depending arms a a, each of which is formed with a longitudinal slot b, open at the lower end.

B B denote the pair of non-crossing jaws, which may be of suitable design, and they are pivoted at their upper ends, as shown at c c, to the aforesaid arms a a in the lower ends of their slots 1) b, which jaws are formed at their pivoted ends with extensions 01 d, projecting toward each other, and at the lower or free ends of said jaws are formed the usual inwardly-projecting spurs or points 6 e.

0 represents a grip-bar which is employed for the purpose of closing the jaws to cause the same to grip the block of ice or other article to be handled. Said grip-bar may also be of any desired shape or design, and it is disposed to slide in the aforesaid slots 6 b of the depending arms and is formed with heads a. or at its ends bearing on the outer sides of the arms to prevent longitudinal movement of the same.

D D are links by which movement is imparted from said grip-bar to the jaws for closing the same. Said links are bifurcated at their lower ends, as shown at b b, and are pivoted thereat to the aforesaid extensions (2 cl of the jaws, as indicated at c c", and the upper ends of the links are formed with similar bifurcations d d, by which they are pivoted to ears 6 6, formed on the under side of said bar, as indicated at ff.

a a are coiled springs which are disposed longitudinally in the slots 79 b and are connected at their lower ends to rigid transverse pins 19 b extending through the said slots and at their upper ends to ears 0 0 formed on the bottom of said grip-bar C. By arranging the said springs in this manner it will be seen that the grip-bar will be drawn down in the slots when released from the persons hand, and thereby the jaws will be opened automatically, it being understood that the said grip-bar is disposed at a proper distance from the handle A when the jaws are in open position, so as to permit the grip-bar to be conveniently gripped by one or more fingers of the hand of the person.

I do not limit myself to the detail construction herein described, as my improved icetongs are susceptible of many modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, it will be observed that, by reason of the said jaws not crossing, a block of ice or any article to be handled may be of greater depth than could be otherwise handled. This is one of the salient features of my improved ice-tongs.

What I claimis- 1. An ice-tongs comprising a handle provided with a pair of depending parallel arms, a pair of non-crossin g jaws pivotally connected to the lower ends of said arms, anda gripbar disposed to slide vertically on said arms and pivotally connected to said jaws sub stantially as described.

2. An ice-tongs comprisingahandle formed at its ends with a pair of parallel depending arms vertical guides formed in said arms,

a pair of non-crossing jaws pivoted'to the lower ends of said arms, a grip-bar sliding in said guides and pivotally connected to said jaws substantially as described.

3. An ice-tongs comprising a handle, a pair of non-crossing jaws pivotally connected to said handle, a verticall-yI-movable grip-bar carried on said handle and pivotally connected to the jaws, by which to close said jaws by hand, and springs automatically opening said jaws substantially as described.

4:. An ice-tongs comprising a handle, a pair of non-crossing jaws pivotally connected to said handle, hand-operated means for closing said jaws, and means adapted to automatically open said jaws substantially as-described.

5. An ice-tongs comprisingahandle formed with a pair of parallel depending arms, each formed with a vertical slot, a pair of jaws pivotally connected to said arms, in the lower ends of said slots, a grip-bar disposed to slide vertically in said slots and pivotally connected to said jaws, and a pair of coiled springs located in the slots and connected at their respective ends to the grip-bar and arms for the purpose set forth.

6. An ice-tongs comprising a handle formed with a pair of parallel arms each provided with a vertical slot, a pair of jaws pivotally connected to said arms, in the lower ends of the slots, and formed with extensions at their pivoted ends projecting toward each other, a grip-bar disposed to slide vertically in said slots, links pivotally connecting said gripbar and extensions, a rigid pin passing transversely through each slot, and coiled springs disposed vertically in the slots and connected at their respective ends to the grip-bar and pins as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY B. MCKEE. [L. 8.]

Witnesses:

J. J. LAASs, WM. HAWLEY. 

